Fix errors · Skill

Review and ship your work

review-and-ship-work

Self-check work before it goes out - diff against the detected base branch, run or add focused tests, review for bugs, regressions, security and intent, fix the critical issues, commit only the related files, then push and open or update the pull request after you confirm. Use when work is ready to ship, or the user says check my work, commit it and send it for review.

Works with: Any AI Not yet model-tested; testing Jan 2027

View raw SKILL.mdInstall

Paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or any AI chat, then tell it about your project. How it works

Install in Claude Code, Cursor or Codex (optional)

Only for AI coding tools that read skill folders. Run one line in a terminal, in your project folder. It downloads this skill's text files from TheSkillVault and nothing else; you can read them first with “View raw SKILL.md”.

Claude Code (all your projects)

curl -fsSL --create-dirs 'https://theskillvault.ai/api/skills/review-and-ship-work/raw' -o ~/'.claude/skills/review-and-ship-work/SKILL.md' && curl -fsSL --create-dirs 'https://theskillvault.ai/api/skills/review-and-ship-work/files/LICENSE.txt' -o ~/'.claude/skills/review-and-ship-work/LICENSE.txt'

Cursor (this project)

curl -fsSL --create-dirs 'https://theskillvault.ai/api/skills/review-and-ship-work/raw' -o '.cursor/skills/review-and-ship-work/SKILL.md' && curl -fsSL --create-dirs 'https://theskillvault.ai/api/skills/review-and-ship-work/files/LICENSE.txt' -o '.cursor/skills/review-and-ship-work/LICENSE.txt'

Codex and other Agent Skills tools (this project)

curl -fsSL --create-dirs 'https://theskillvault.ai/api/skills/review-and-ship-work/raw' -o '.agents/skills/review-and-ship-work/SKILL.md' && curl -fsSL --create-dirs 'https://theskillvault.ai/api/skills/review-and-ship-work/files/LICENSE.txt' -o '.agents/skills/review-and-ship-work/LICENSE.txt'

Or connect the whole library over MCP

Add TheSkillVault to Cursor or add this to your app's MCP settings (read-only; help):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "theskillvault": {
      "url": "https://theskillvault.ai/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Before anyone else sees your branch, check it yourself. This skill diffs the branch, tests what changed, fixes the real problems, and makes a focused commit. It then opens the PR, but only after you confirm.

When to use

  • Your feature works locally and you are about to open a pull request.
  • An AI agent finished a task, and you want it checked and committed cleanly.
  • You want one routine for "is this ready" instead of several separate checks.

When not to use

  • The PR is already open and CI or reviewers need answering. Use fix-ci-until-green.
  • You only need proof that a claim is true. Use test-before-claiming-done.
  • You need the PR text written. Use write-pull-request-description-prompt after this.

Steps

  1. Find the base branch, never assume main: gh pr view --json baseRefName -q .baseRefName, or else git symbolic-ref --short refs/remotes/origin/HEAD.
  2. Gather the change: git fetch origin <base>, git diff origin/<base>...HEAD, git status and git log origin/<base>..HEAD --oneline.
  3. Run the tests that cover the changed behaviour. If none exist, add a focused test or write the gap down.
  4. Review the diff for correctness, regressions, security and fit with the goal. On a large diff, split it among parallel subagents by area.
  5. Sort findings into critical, warning and note. Fix the critical ones, then re-run the affected tests.
  6. Stage only the files that belong to this change (git add <paths>), and commit with a short message.
  7. Show the summary and ask before pushing. Then git push -u origin HEAD, and open or update the PR with gh pr create or gh pr edit.
  8. Check readiness with gh pr checks, and report.

Gotchas

  • A hardcoded origin/main gives a wrong diff on release or stacked branches. Detect the base first.
  • Never bypass failing pre-commit hooks with --no-verify. Fix the cause.
  • Keep unrelated edits out of the commit. Stash them or put them on another branch.
  • Check the diff for secrets, .env files and debug logs before committing.
  • Style comments come last. Correctness, security and regressions come first.

Portability

Works in any git repo and language. Without gh, open the PR in your host's web UI or CLI, such as glab for GitLab. Without subagents, review the diff area by area yourself.

Done when

  • Tests for the changed behaviour ran and passed, or the gap is written down.
  • No critical finding is left open.
  • The commit holds only related files, and the PR is open or updated after your go-ahead.
  • You have a report: findings, tests run with results, and the PR link.

Example prompt

"Review my branch and ship it. Diff against the real base branch, run the tests for what changed, fix anything critical, commit only these changes and ask me before you push."

---

Adapted from "review-and-ship" in cursor/plugins (cursor-team-kit) (Copyright (c) 2026 Cursor, MIT). Original: https://github.com/cursor/plugins/blob/ae5650febf4320793844c12c4adaa937f417f8da/cursor-team-kit/skills/review-and-ship/SKILL.md. Changes by TheSkillVault are listed in the metadata above. See LICENSE.txt.

Bundled files

Licence

Adapted from Eric Zakariasson (ericzakariasson), Cursor team kit plugin in cursor/plugins (Copyright (c) 2026 Cursor), MIT License. Modified by TheSkillVault on 2026-11-04: the hardcoded origin/main checks were replaced with base-branch detection (as outside PR #888 proposed); an ask-before-push rule, a findings table, gotchas, portability and done-when were added; the chat-history context step was removed. Rewritten in the house style. Not the original file.

Licence: MIT License. Attribution when you reuse it: Based on work by Eric Zakariasson (ericzakariasson), Cursor team kit plugin in cursor/plugins (Copyright (c) 2026 Cursor, MIT License), https://github.com/cursor/plugins/blob/ae5650febf4320793844c12c4adaa937f417f8da/cursor-team-kit/skills/review-and-ship/SKILL.md; adapted by TheSkillVault, https://theskillvault.ai